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Gordon D’Arcy and Brian O’Driscoll were in Ireland’s midfield on that faithful November Saturday back in 2013 with Luke Fitzgerald providing back-up on the bench.

Fast forward to this weekend and Henshaw is now the premier Irish centre, a nailed-on starter with 22 Tests, a Six Nations Championship, World Cup campaign and Test series in South Africa under his belt.

Now, he faces the biggest challenge of his fledgling career to date.

‘I’ve yet to face the All Blacks. It’s going to be a tough game, we know what they’re going to throw at us,’ the Leinster star explained.

‘We’ve just got to be physically prepared for a high, physical challenge against a high-skill level team coming up against us.

‘We need to be squeaky clean in terms of our discipline and need to execute as best as we can with our strike plays.’

The 23-year-old will renew his midfield partnership with Jared Payne, who will face the country of his birth for the fist time, with Ryan Crotty and George Moala providing the opposition.

Payne impressed at full-back throughout Ireland’s summer tour in Bok country but Schmidt has opted to reinstate the hugely-experienced Rob Kearney in the No 15 jersey with Ireland’s adopted Kiwi shifting to outside centre.

Henshaw and Payne were first paired together by Schmidt before his side’s stunning 29-15 victory over South Africa in Dublin back in 2014 and went on to start side-by-side throughout the Six Nations tittle-winning campaign the following year.

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Ulster’s triumvirate of Stuart McCloskey, Luke Marshall and Stuart Olding all had stints in midfield for Ireland this year but now Schmidt’s first-choice paring is back together and tasked with shutting down the most potent attacking force in world rugby.

‘It’s great, he would have played with and against all the guys he’ll be playing against on Saturday and I was slagging him during the week, asking if he’d been getting texts from the other side,’ said Henshaw.

‘It’s obviously Jared’s first time to face some of the players he played with and against when he was younger in Super Rugby.

‘In terms of asking him of how they play, that’s where he’s vital for us and vital for our team. He’s grown up there, he knows how they play so we get all the info off him.

Leinster’s rookie pairing of Joey Carbery and Garry Ringrose have been duly rewarded for their stellar form with spots on the bench.

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Henshaw has operated at inside centre between New Zealand-born No 10 Carbery and fleet-footed centre Ringrose throughout this season, and has backed both to find their feet quickly at Test level.

‘They’ve trained well this week and I think the lads, the way they play — they play with confidence, they’ve high confidence and they’ve played exceptionally well, the high standard of their performances has got them here.

‘They’ve trained really well in the Irish set-up, it’ll be great when they get on; a great experience.’

Soldier Field is set to be a sea of green thanks to the sizeable Irish diaspora arriving from the four corners of the United States, not to mention the throngs of fans that have made the trip from back home.

Ireland against their arch-rivals in from of 61,00 fans at Chicago’s hallowed venue. It promises to an unforgettable occasion.

‘Yeah, it’s incredible,’ added Henshaw.

‘I was there once before and to be back here is pretty much a dream and it’s the same for the young lads to be here.

‘But we’re going out here with nothing to lose, we have to go and throw a shot and we need to really have a go.